{"id":2891,"date":"2024-03-22T17:24:26","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T21:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/?p=2891"},"modified":"2024-03-22T17:35:26","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T21:35:26","slug":"mindfulness-what-is-it-how-can-it-improve-my-daily-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/mindfulness-what-is-it-how-can-it-improve-my-daily-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindfulness \u2013 What Is It & How Can It Improve My Daily Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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We recently introduced a form of counseling called dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in our blog. This form of therapy has many components and involves learning skills that help individuals navigate strong emotions and difficult times with greater ease. Over the next several months, we\u2019re going to talk about each of these coping skills that are developed as part of DBT, specifically mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. In this blog, we\u2019ll discuss mindfulness and the many benefits of this skill when used as part of therapy sessions or in daily life.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What Is Mindfulness?<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Mindfulness is a strategy that allows us to focus more closely on the present moment. This is an important skill for people who are struggling with anxiety, stress, depression, and other disordered emotions that lead them to live in the \u201cwhat ifs.\u201d What if I don\u2019t get a different job? What if I wreck my car? What if my relationship fails? What if there\u2019s a war? From the small things to the biggest, people get hung up on what might happen. When this form of thinking becomes overwhelming or strong emotions pull you out of the present, mindfulness can help to focus you on what\u2019s happening in the here and now. Some people think of mindfulness as a huge time commitment for mediation or learning yoga and other practices. Actually, mindfulness can be practiced in just a few minutes each day. In the next section, we\u2019ll walk through some simple one minute meditations you can do today.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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One Minute Mindfulness Exercises You Can Do Right Now<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Like any exercise, mindfulness exercises take consistency and practice to be effective. That\u2019s why starting small can make a big difference. It\u2019s easier to commit to taking a short break at least once a day than it is to commit to a lengthy daily mindfulness practice. Below, we\u2019re including some simple one-minute mindfulness exercises you can start today:<\/p>

\uf0b7 Set a Timer \u2013 You can invest in an old-fashioned hourglass or just set a timer on your phone for one minute. At least once a day, choose something to focus on and set the timer. Focus on your breathing and whatever object you\u2019ve chosen for one minute. As you focus, allow yourself to notice anything you see, hear, and feel, but don\u2019t hold onto
any one thing.<\/p>

\uf0b7 Morning meditation \u2013 as you awaken, take a few deep breaths. Focus on your breathing. Then, pay attention to your body, noticing each part feels.<\/p>

\uf0b7 Take a seat \u2013 at its most basic level, meditation is simply finding a moment of peace and focus. Simply taking one minute to sit and focus your mind without distraction is one of the easiest meditative exercises. Simply sit up straight with your feet on the floor. Relax your shoulders and rest your hands on your lap. Close your eyes and focus on your thoughts and feelings as you breathe in and out.<\/p>

\uf0b7 Box breathing \u2013 this is one of the simplest and most effective calming meditations. Simply close your eyes and visualize a box. Then, breathe in for four seconds, hold for
four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, and hold for four seconds. Imagine your breaths creating the sides of the box and repeat this process for one minute.<\/p>

\uf0b7 Impromptu meditations \u2013 meditation doesn\u2019t need to be structured. Instead, maybe you would enjoy a more spontaneous form of meditation based on curiosity about the world around you. For example, if you\u2019re doing the dishes, maybe you become interested in the sound the faucet makes. Focus on the way water sounds and feels. Smell the dishwashing soap. Change the water temperature and note how it impacts your thoughts and feelings. Just focus on the task of doing the dishes and how it feels in the
present moment. You can do this with any task.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Visit a Therapist for More Mindfulness Exercises<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Interested in learning more about mindfulness, DBT, or therapy in general? The Lotus Psychology Group team would love to hear from you. Simply give us a call at (248) 957 8973<\/a>, email info@lotuspsychgroup.com<\/a>, or complete our scheduling request form<\/a>. We look forward to hearing from you. Don\u2019t forget to check our blog in the coming months to hear more about DBT skills.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We recently introduced a form of counseling called dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in our blog. This form of therapy has many components and involves learning skills that help individuals navigate strong emotions and difficult times with greater ease. Over the next several months, we\u2019re going to talk about each of these coping skills that are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2891"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2895,"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891\/revisions\/2895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lotuspsychgroup.com\/stagingnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}